I brought Olivia home a little over a month ago, and she is a ravenous 'I must eat everything in sight RIGHT NOW' kind of cat, whereas Maynard kind of picks at his food between feedings. I thought I had this all worked out by feeding Maynard on top of the microwave (gross I know, but it worked), and Olivia on the floor, and they each have separate, very different dishes. This evening, for the first time that I have noticed, Olivia jumped up and cleaned out the rest of Maynards supper once he left it.

Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? Maynard is a big cat and I don't want him to always be hungry, and I also do not want Olivia to gain a ton of weight (she's healthy now and I want to keep her that way). Thanks ppk!

I have had to deal with this situation between my mother's cat (she eats everything) and my cat who is a nibbler. They eat different food. My cat is allergic to my mom's cat's food, as well. The only way I have been able to stop them from eating each other's food is to cover the bowls, monitor them when the food is out, or put them and their food in separate rooms. My mom even bought a bowl for her cat that has a hinged lid attached.It is not ideal, to say the least. Sorry for not being much help.

We switched from free feeding, to putting out their food for half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening. Our overweight cat complained a lot the first week, but there was also a dramatic improvement in his energy level, even before he lost any weight. And our slow-eating cat learned to eat immediately when we put down the food. We also tried feeding them in separate rooms, but our smaller cat was so distracted about being locked out of or in the bathroom that she wasn't eating anything. So they get their bowls side-by-side now.

Great, thanks for the advice. I guess Maynard will just have to learn to gobble up his food right away. Unfortunately, I have a pet sitter beginning to come in with the kitties tonight as I am leaving for Christmas, so it should be an interesting few weeks for her.